Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Book Spotlight: The Calling (Darkness Rising Series, Book 2) by Kelley Armstrong

Ciao, Beardies!

The best way to experience any series is to just plow straight through it. Am I right? Anyone who has sat down and watched an entire season of a show (or has just watched every season of that show) has lived through what I call Marathon Madness. It’s the craze that takes hold when one becomes involved in any fandom, geekery, or series. Marathon Madness usually strikes at the most inconvenient of times: when extended family is coming to stay for the week, when you have to study for finals, or when one is avoiding chores (this includes feeding your family). This can also be done with books. I find this better than getting hyped up on a book only to find out that its sequel won’t be published for another year. Therefore, I went straight from The Gathering to The Calling. And what a ride!

Premise:

When we left Maya and her friends they were evacuating from Vancouver Island in a helicopter to escape a forest fire. The Calling picks up exactly where The Gathering left off, except this time there is more action. Within the first couple of pages, the main characters, Maya and Daniel, and their friends—Haley, Corey, Samantha, and Nicole—are stranded in the wilderness, trying to make their way back home. On top of that, they have to evade people from the Edison Group, who seek to capture them for their supernatural powers.

Watch the Trailer:

Gems for Writers:

Action.Right from the start, the plot leads the characters from one dangerous situation to another. Kidnapping, helicopter crashes, survival situations—this book had it all. Some of the characters were dropping like flies (Question to Self: why are there multiple flies dropping? I don’t ever recall seeing handfuls of flies ever dropping. Why is this cliché?). Oh, no, don’t worry...I mean characters were dropping out of the storyline due to kidnapping, injury, or disappearance. The timeline for the book is just a few days, and much happens in that span of time. Maya and her friends learn more about the St. Clouds and the Edison Group, the two groups that are conducting experiments to resurrect or improve supernatural abilities in humans. All in all, I could not put it down. And when I say that, I mean, I would be snarky with anyone who distracted me whilst reading. My family wasn’t too happy with me that day.

Supernatural Stupendity.With all of the running around, the characters are practically forced to accept and learn more about their abilities. It takes a little while for them to admit it to each other, but hey, if you’re trying to survive the wilderness while being hunted by crazy scientists who seem to be everywhere (well, it is an island) and know all of your tricks because you don’t know yourself well enough, you’d open up and trust those in the same predicament as yourself. The characters bond over their struggles and accept each other’s abilities. Some of their abilities are not clearly defined, which adds to the confusion of the characters, but they are strong to help one another and keep each other safe.

Rating:

Conclusion:

The action of The Calling earned it more stars than The Gathering. The Gathering worked to intrigue me, and then The Calling succeeded in purchasing my soul. Now I’m sitting around waiting for The Rising to arrive via post because I went online and bought it. As much as I love the library, sometimes I am impatient in waiting my turn.